Durgapur, March 19: An Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) tanker carrying 12,000 litres of refined diesel overturned and caught fire on Panagarh-Ilambazar Road in Kanksha, about 125 km from Calcutta.

Fearing an explosion, police asked people to vacate the area. Shops and other establishments downed shutters.

Senior IOC officials and fire brigade personnel rushed to the spot. The blaze was brought under control around 6 pm after fire brigade personnel had fought the flames for more than four hours with the help of over 100 extinguishers.

IOC officials tried to keep the temperature of the tanker down by using foam and sprinkling chemicals. ?We knew dousing the flames would be difficult. So we tried to keep the temperature of the tanker under control to prevent an explosion,? an official said.

?There is no reason for the local people to panic. The situation is under control now,? IOC general manager Gautam Dutta said.

The police said the incident took place around 2 pm when the oil tanker collided with a loaded truck coming from the opposite direction near Kanksha Bazar.

?The tanker left the IOC?s Rajbandh terminal with the fuel and was heading towards Ilambazar. After the collision, it overturned and caught fire,? said an officer of Kanksha police station.

As the tanker lay burning, traffic on the road was thrown out of gear for several hours.